Antinuclear

New South Wales Upper House passes uranium exploration legislation by 20 votes to 18

the Government had no mandate for uranium exploration……..Mr O’Farrell had declared to Parliament in August 2011 that the Government had no plans to allow uranium mining or exploration.

Uranium ban lifted by NSW Parliament, Herald Sun  AAP March 28, 2012 LEGISLATION to repeal a ban on uranium exploration has passed through the NSW Parliament, with MPs in the state’s Upper House supporting it by 20 votes to 18. The legislation passed through the Legislative Council unamended today, despite opposition from Greens and Labor
MPs…

.. Separate legislation would be required to lift the NSW ban on uranium mining.

The NSW Greens and environment groups condemned the passing of the
legislation, saying the Government had no mandate for uranium
exploration.

“The community does not support uranium mining and, over the coming
months, the Government will hear this loud and clear,” Greens MP Jamie
Parker said.

“The O’Farrell Government did not take this policy to last year’s
election and the public will be horrified that it has overturned this
important socially and environmentally responsible protection.”

The Nature Conservation Council, Australian Conservation Foundation
and Beyond Nuclear Initiative called for an independent inquiry into
uranium mining in NSW.

“Premier O’Farrell has said this is not about mining, but about
exploration and gathering evidence, so we trust he will support a
full, robust and independent inquiry to examine the adequacy of NSW’s
regulatory regimes, the experience of uranium mining in other
jurisdictions and the views of relevant stakeholders,” Dave Sweeney
from the Australian Conservation Foundation said in a statement.

Chief of the NSW Nature Conservation Council Pepe Clarke said
thousands of people had signed a petition calling for the exploration
ban to be maintained.

“We urge the Government, Opposition and crossbench MPs to support a
full, robust and independent inquiry into the ramifications of opening
up NSW to uranium exploration and mining,” Mr Clarke said.

NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson said the overturning of the
longstanding uranium exploration ban was a broken promise.

“This is a massive backflip by the Premier and represents a huge
breach of faith with the people who elected him only 12 months ago,”
he said.

Mr Robertson said Mr O’Farrell had declared to Parliament in August
2011 that the Government had no plans to allow uranium mining or
exploration.

“That declaration has been exposed as a straight-out lie,” he said.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/archives/old-news-pages/uranium-ban-lifted-by-nsw-parliament/story-e6frf7ko-1226312775899

March 29, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | New South Wales, politics, uranium